MP pushes for CCTV, police beat within the year

Premier David Crisafulli, centre, and Nicklin MP Marty Hunt met with police officers at the Nambour Police Station last Tuesday.

Newly elected Nicklin MP Marty Hunt is wasting no time in making good on his promise to tackle crime in Nambour.

Mr Hunt on Tuesday January 14 hosted Premier David Crisafulli at Nambour Police Station to underscore the urgency of installing a dedicated police beat and state-of-the-art CCTV by the end of the year.  

The push comes after years of pleas from local businesses, residents, and community leaders who say anti-social behaviour in the town has worsened, largely fuelled by drug and mental health issues.

The commitment has been spearheaded by Mr Hunt, who campaigned hard on the issue and says he is determined to see these measures in place by the end of the year. 

“Nambour community safety has been an issue for a long, long time and it’s fallen on deaf ears for too long,” Mr Hunt told reporters. “I invited the Premier up here today to impress upon him how important this commitment is to get delivered quickly.”

The Premier said the initiatives were long overdue. “There were two glaring omissions from the Nambour CBD,” Mr Crisafulli said. “One was the lack of CCTV and the other was a permanent police presence to send a message that anti-social behaviour must be dealt with.

“I committed before the election I would deal with both and today I’m honouring that commitment.”

A long-standing problem

Concerns over rising crime, public intoxication and aggressive and anti-social  behaviour have been voiced by Nambour residents for years. A safety audit conducted by Sunshine Coast Council highlighted calls for a stronger police presence and better surveillance in the area.

Mr Hunt said Nambour business owners and shoppers felt overlooked. “For too long Nambour has been told there isn’t a problem,” he said. “The Sunshine Coast Council’s recent Nambour safety audit indicates that more police presence is required. It’s come up in survey after survey, report after report. We have to confront it and we have to take action.”

The new police beat shopfront in CBD

At the heart of the announcement is the creation of a dedicated police beat shopfront in the CBD. Although Nambour already has a police station on Currie Street, Mr Hunt said expanding the police presence in the town centre was essential.

“There is a police station here, but Nambour police service a large area—Mapleton, Bli Bli, and Yandina,” he said. “A permanent police presence such as a community police beat in the CBD, where behavioural issues are occurring, will be a deterrent and allow police to respond more quickly.”

Mr Hunt wants the new police beat to be fully operational by the end of the year and is pushing for the additional resources to be included in the upcoming state budget. “I’ve made it my number one priority,” he said. “I’m meeting with the police next week to make sure we secure a lease for premises, a shop front, and the extra position—because I don’t want it taken from the positions that are currently in Nambour. It must be an extra position and premises.”

He emphasised that Nambour’s station operated 24 hours a day, but said having an additional, dedicated police beat, open during shopping and business hours, would help shoppers, business owners, and residents feel safer. 

“This police beat presence in the CBD is about providing a police presence during shopping and business hours for the safety of the business community, the community itself and shoppers,” Mr Hunt said.

Upgraded CCTV live-fed to police

Alongside the new police beat, Nambour will receive state-of-the-art City Safe CCTV cameras, which will feed live into the local police station. Mr Hunt says this will enable officers to respond to incidents far more quickly than the current system, where police can only access footage retrospectively through council channels.

“Currently, the police have to apply for CCTV footage from council, and it takes a day or two. It has to be specifically related to a crime, and you have to have certain parameters of times to apply for,” he explained. “This will allow police to respond in real time. This will allow the sergeant at the desk in the police beat to have a look at what’s going on in town through cameras and be able to identify who’s creating the problem.”

The scope of CCTV coverage has yet to be finalised, but trouble spots will likely be determined during planning talks. “That’s part of the meeting with the police,” Mr Hunt said. “I want to know what will serve them best.”

Police welcome 'additions to toolkit'

Sunshine Coast District Police Chief Inspector Jason Overland welcomed any increase in resources. “The CCTV footage and the police beat announcement are just tools in our toolkit that allow us to deliver for the community,” he said. “We appreciate any resources that are sent our way to assist the community.”

Anti-social behaviour ‘out of control’

Local retailer Deborah Hammond has lived in Nambour for 25 years and runs Hammond Optometry alongside her husband. She described the current climate of anti-social behaviour in the CBD as “out of control” and says she has directly experienced its impact.

“You’ve got people who are abusive and having fights right outside your practice,” Ms Hammond said. 

"I had to break up a fight outside last Monday. It was so bad and right outside my door.

“I don’t want to see that any more. My main concern is that I don’t want my elderly patients or my patients with disabilities and young children feeling frightened.”

Some business owners see the news as a potential turning point for Nambour CBD, giving locals hope to curb anti-social behaviour and restore a greater sense of safety.

Mr Hunt shares that sentiment: “We have to confront the problems, and we have to take action. I’m delighted the Premier came here today, and I’m committed to seeing this delivered as soon as possible. Let’s make it happen—by the end of this year.”

The Gazette has spoken to numerous shoppers and shopkeepers over the years who love their town but are concerned with anti-social behaviour in the CBD. 

Screaming matches, fights, drug use, drug deals, drunkenness, public defecation and urination, threatening, antisocial and unlawful behaviour have become regular sights in the CBD.

Next steps

Despite the tight timeline Mr Hunt insists the end of year deadline could be met with strong political will and community support.

“This has been welcomed by the business community and the Chamber of Commerce and I want to see it done as a priority,” he said.

“We need those resources that other areas have got—Nambour’s been left behind for too long.”